Phases of treatment- question

[Coconut222]

Hi! I have been in Damons for 18 mo with expected debanding end of Sept. I am 45 y/o. I am currently in the process of closing one extraction gap and a few very small gaps using power chains and bilatetal elastics. Everything I've read says I should have a panoramic xray at some point in time, before a certain phase of treatment begins. I have not had one since my initial consult. My midlines are still slightly off on top and bottom. I have a bit of an overjet, which he has assured me will be fixed by the end of treatment. My lower molars still seemed to be tipped and are not level. I will see my board cert ortho in 2 weeks. I guess I'm getting impatient and am hoping someone can tell me if it realistic to expect to be done in 24 mo total and what "phase" I'm currently in. Also, how long does the finishing phase take? I know my bottom arch is a "SS 65 with reverse curve". Also, what questions should I ask him? I feel like i am not asking him the right questions. Thank you!

[Coconut222]

[quote="Coconut222"]Hi! I have been in Damons for 18 mo with expected debanding end of Sept. I am 45 y/o. I am currently in the process of closing one extraction gap and a few very small gaps using power chains and bilatetal elastics. Everything I've read says I should have a panoramic xray at some point in time, before a certain phase of treatment begins. I have not had one since my initial consult. My midlines are still slightly off on top and bottom. I have a bit of an overjet, which he has assured me will be fixed by the end of treatment. My lower molars still seemed to be tipped and are not level. I will see my board cert ortho in 2 weeks. I guess I'm getting impatient and am hoping someone can tell me if it's realistic to expect to be done in 24 mo total and what "phase" I'm currently in. Also, how long does the finishing phase take? I know my bottom arch is a "SS 65 with reverse curve". Also, what questions should I ask him? I feel like I am not asking him the right questions. Thank you![/quote]

[Coconut222]

[quote="Coconut222"][quote="Coconut222"]Hi! I have been in Damons for 18 mo with expected debanding end of Sept. I am 45 y/o. I am currently in the process of closing one extraction gap and a few very small gaps using power chains and bilatetal elastics. Everything I've read says I should have a panoramic xray at some point in time, before a certain phase of treatment begins. I have not had one since my initial consult. My midlines are still slightly off on top and bottom. I have a bit of an overjet, which he has assured me will be fixed by the end of treatment. My lower molars still seem to be tipped and are not level. I will see my board cert ortho in 2 weeks. I guess I'm getting impatient and am hoping someone can tell me if it's realistic to expect to be done in 24 mo total and what "phase" I'm currently in. Also, how long does the finishing phase take? I know my bottom arch is a "SS 65 with reverse curve". Also, what questions should I ask him? I feel like I am not asking him the right questions. Thank you![/quote][/quote]

[sirwired]

I don't recall having a "progress" panorex taken as part of the normal course of treatment...

Your other questions? These are all questions for your ortho; not one anybody here has any clue about.

[djspeece]

What sirwired said.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Hi Coconut - I had the same question about progress x-rays. Ultimately, I filed it in the usual "it depends" category. It seems that some people get interim pano's, but some don't (see above). If your ortho is concerned about root resorption or any other progress issue they're tracking, then they'll probably order up a pano. If not, they probably won't.

I asked a similar question regarding timing when I had a pano done in Dec at the 2yr mark. I thought that seemed awfully late to be checking. I read that sometimes it's done shortly before the end of treatment (so my expectations went up), just to confirm everything is where it should be root-wise, and someone else replied that theirs was 6+ months before their off date. If my current off date range holds, the pano will have been done 8-9mo in advance, and in that case they obviously needed to check on some things and adjust the finishing plan. So, it depends.

I wouldn't worry if your ortho doesn't require one. I can make the argument that not needing an update pano is a good thing! It could mean that everything's going really well and your ortho has no concerns that require double-checking. Hopefully that's the case with you.

[Coconut222]

[quote="SinkFullOfDinner"]Hi Coconut - I had the same question about progress x-rays. Ultimately, I filed it in the usual "it depends" category. It seems that some people get interim pano's, but some don't (see above). If your ortho is concerned about root resorption or any other progress issue they're tracking, then they'll probably order up a pano. If not, they probably won't.

I asked a similar question regarding timing when I had a pano done in Dec at the 2yr mark. I thought that seemed awfully late to be checking. I read that sometimes it's done shortly before the end of treatment (so my expectations went up), just to confirm everything is where it should be root-wise, and someone else replied that theirs was 6+ months before their off date. If my current off date range holds, the pano will have been done 8-9mo in advance, and in that case they obviously needed to check on some things and adjust the finishing plan. So, it depends.

I wouldn't worry if your ortho doesn't require one. I can make the argument that not needing an update pano is a good thing! It could mean that everything's going really well and your ortho has no concerns that require double-checking. Hopefully that's the case with you.[/quote]
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Yes, I feel like everything is progressing normally. Seems like I remember my son having an xray close to his debanding date. So, possibly I will have one at some point. I am about 6 mo out and i feel like my space will be closed by my next visit in 2 weeks. Or so I hope! I get impatient and worry about my progress!! Lol. Thanks again!